Costa Rica 2017: Days 4-6

8/17/2017

We finished our first night patrol and it was amazing! We had to be very cautious of where we walked because the beach was full of turtles from the arribada. It was all hands on deck throughout the night. We were a group of seven and everyone was busy. We counted the number of eggs being laid, the time to lay the eggs, measured the size of the turtles, and checked for any tags on the turtles to see where they came from.

The hardest job ended up being protecting the turtles that we were analyzing from other turtles. The beach was so concentrated with turtles that it is very common for them to run into each other when trying to find a spot to lay eggs. We quickly learned that Olive Ridley turtles are very strong and persistent. We were sweating by the end of the night because we had to redirect so many turtles.

We all got a late start after a five hour night patrol. Fortunately we had the day off as most of our work will be during the evening while the arribada continues. We spent a large part of our time playing cards and learning new games from the other volunteers that are at the conservation. It has been amazing to meet them and learn why they chose to come to Ostional to aid the efforts to conserve the turtle population. We have been able to meet people from all over Europe, North America, and Central America.

Tonight we start transectos. This is a method that the conservation uses to keep track of the turtle population and they present the numbers from this work to the national government. To complete the transectos we walk up the beach, starting from the tide line, with a 2 meter pole. Any turtles that are laying eggs, in range of the pole, are counted. We do this for every 50 meters along the beach. We repeat this process every two hours starting at 8p.m. and ending at 6.a.m.

8/18/2017

The transectos were a long night for everyone. I think we are starting to become nocturnal. The number of turtles coming up onto the beach seems to be decreasing. I think the arribada is slowing down.

Everyone has been finding a new routine here to pass the time until our night shifts starts. Starting with getting up late from the night shifts. We decided to all go for a swim in the Pacific Ocean. It was amazing, we could have stayed in the water all day.

Reed has seemed to find a new host family at the local pizzeria. This is the most popular restaurant in the small town of Ostional. The favorite item among Reed and the other volunteers has been the smoothies, specifically the pineapple and watermelon flavor. After trying it for myself, I would have to agree with the other volunteers, it is absolutely delicious. Christian, however, still argues that the lemon smoothie is the best.

Monica, Derek, and Andong have been the fitness conscientious of the group and have been going out for morning runs on the beach.

Christian and myself have been learning how to cook traditional Costa Rican dishes from our host mother. Our favorite dish has been fried plantains which seems to pair perfectly with every meal.

8/19/2017

Just finished another night of transectos, we recorded very few turtles last night. The leaders have said that the arribada has finished. We were so lucky to be able to experience this phenomenon. After a number of long nights working with the turtles, we have been allowed to take the next three days off to experience more of Costa Rica and prepare ourselves for post arribada volunteer work.

Christian, Reed, myself, and another volunteer, Ben, decided to go for a swim during our time off. During our swim we experienced a different, more unruly, side of the Pacific Ocean. We had a slight scare but I am happy to say that we all made it out safely. I’m sure we all learned a lesson about the strength of oceanic rip currents and the importance of swimming in groups.

After a tense swim in the ocean, we all decided to take a calm walk on the beach and soak in the full beauty of the conservation. Reed made some friends with some of the many dogs in Ostional and the rest of us explored some rock formations that stretched out into the ocean.

On our walk back to the station, we got caught in Costa Rica’s winter weather. Not even the constant downpour could not dampen our mood as we are set to take the next few days off and visit Tamarindo.